Malthus’ nightscape is nigh, yo-
Frugal survivalism as if prepping is time sensitive

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Tuesday, July 26, 2016

frugal survivalist digest 9 of 10

FRUGAL SURVIVALIST DIGEST
VERSION 9

LIGHTING

Way back in the day when
Tappan gave advice live ( as opposed to from the grave ) and the Evil Empire
was thought to be ready to Push The Button at any time, off grid illumination
blew rabid monkey balls.You had a
couple of choices, neither good.You
could stockpile fifty gallon metal drums of kerosene, mantels and lanterns,
producing heat in the summer and carbon monoxide all the time.Or you could jerry rig a Rube Goldburg
windmill to charge a few batteries to run a 12v auto bulb for an anemic
pathetic source of illumination for a short period of time.And of course you remember those next to
worthless flashlights of yesteryear that got minutes rather than hours of
light, when the bulbs weren’t breaking.Well, we never got flying cars or dinner in a pill, and certainly not the
Magic Of The Atom For Un-metered Power, we at least got great off grid lighting
and better battery powered everything.

*

I have clear memories of
life before popularly disseminated computers and I think I much prefer Then,
which would be wonderful if for no other reason than Bill Gates could kiss my
ass.But I would miss LED’s.They are wonderful sources of illumination,
using almost no electricity and costly less every year even as they increase in
power ( Moore’s Law seems to still be alive and well in computers but much more
noticeable in LED lights ).Pre-Y2k I
could only find them in bicycle lamps, they cost $35 and they used up a set of
batteries in around ten hours or so ( if memory serves me, which it might not
).It was still cheaper than a $1
flashlight using a regular bulb which I zip-tied to my bike to avoid the
Florida constables harassing me.Now,
LED’s are everywhere, even replacing street lights.They are offering LED tubes to replace
fluorescents!Obviously I haven’t lost
my enthusing for them over twenty years.

*

If you are really poor,
buy the $1 garden lights.You know the
ones, you stick the stake in the ground and the thing charges all day and gives
off some light at night.You put enough
of them out and you can see burglars in your yard.They are, however, usually an anemic 1
lumen.Better than nothing.Charge all day and bring in at night and you
put them around so you can at least not trip over crap.I find they last around two or three
years-not too shabby.Just buy
spares.If you ramp up in power you’ll
need to buy a solar battery charger.The
small book size one costs around $25 and a bunch of rechargeable AA’s and AAA’s
( standardize to those two sizes.Others
are too expensive ) about the same.Now
you can buy more powerful flashlights and lanterns.If you want the power but not the expense,
Wal-Mart has brand name garden lights in a four pack, and they get 7
lumens.$20 for the set.

*

Another option is the
Tooblite.Those are the rechargeable
green sticks.They last, literally,
forever.They are NOT illumination but
rather light markers.But you can read
by one when fully charged.Leaving in
the sun and then using after doesn’t work except the first five minutes, so you
need to recharge its light artificially.I have some 600 lumen LED flashlights and if you hold them next to the
Tube for ten seconds it is fully charged.Just build a box to hold both so as not to ruin your night vision.Now place the Tube under the line of text you
are reading.They aren’t necessary,
having limited utility, but a nice additional toy.

*

BUGGING OUT OR STAYING PUT

Bugging out is stupid, but
so is staying in place in a large population center.I would strongly advise you downsizing where
you live, regardless.Less people means
safety ( relatively speaking of course.A Podunk town of 100 is just as dangerous if they turn on you ).If you have to bug out you are doing
something wrong, IF there are safer places you already should be.Bugging out itself is fine, going from a
small city or large town and arriving at your bug out location less than a day
later.Living in a smaller place NOW, is
far better than living in the big city.I don’t care who you are or how much money you have, big city living is
bad.

*

I’ve been in your
shoes-staying out of loyalty for family.But notice how it is all on their terms?They expect giving from you.Would they consider leaving to still be close to you?Of course not, that is why they are staying
in the big city and are guilting you to stay also.They dismiss your fears as groundless.Since they don’t agree with your worries, by
definition they can’t be legitimate.Sound familiar?As far as you are
concerned, they are placing your life in danger with their expectations. What happened to letting the hatchlings leave
the nest?I know there are other
legitimate reasons.In this economy,
forget finding another job.Right?Have you noticed the economy getting
better?Not me-I’ve only noticed it
devolving less quick, and now picking up the pace.It will only be a matter of time before that
job of yours is toast.With an employer,
again, the loyalty is all one way.From
you to them.They will pink slip your
ass in a heartbeat.Move while you have
the resources to do so, and take any job once there.

*

Of course you don’t want
to hear that-I imagine you thought for a mere grand your life would be middle
class luxurious after the apocalypse?Survivalism used to be serious business when nuclear holocausts were
imminent.Then it kind of lost its way,
playing at Militia Porn, worried our power would go out, bleating painfully if
any deprivations were in store for us.Time to get serious again.Time
to Cowboy Up, yo!Grow a pair and
embrace The Suck, learning how to do without the Girly Man soft life.John Wayne should be turning in his
radioactive grave ( it is thought his cancer was from filming at location down
wind from a test site ) right about now.

END

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14 comments:

OH Illustrious One wit the curly locks, Howsabout Propane lanterns teamed with methane generation. Stock lotsa mantles, require some "injun nooity" but all in all is pretty simple leverlock barrels, hose, one way torch valves, inner tubes for storage. abarrel properly loaded with waste, grass clippins,etc., generates methane for about two weeks..a few barrels will furnish enough light and cooking gas.By the way there is a bolt rifle called a mini-mauser made in 762x39 that will enable longer distance shot accuracy and better ammo conservation than the sks..got my sks 20years ago..the mini-mauser a year ago.

I love the idea of a single shot 762x39 for those reasons. What I don't like is the mini-Mausers price tag. Methane for cooking I think can go for some time IF you find something more permanent than an innertube. But for light? NEIN!!! A waste ( get it? Methane, a waste? ) when solar and LEDs are around.

Is bugging out any different than an escape and evade strategy? Even in my remote locale, I can go even more remote for a few weeks if trouble was coming, wait for people to move on because theres not much to take ( food is buried good luck finding it)

Jim with the low cost of solar and LEDs its a no brainer. Bugging in in the city is delayed death at best. Bugging out gives most people a 5% chance if no advanced location is stocked. If a person has followed your minimal advise + a little its may be 50-50. The bad news for some is even bug out to a Rawles level location the Odds don't improve. The real bad reality is if your a homicidal sociopath your chance of survival is 80%

No, dammit! If you are a loner doing bad things, you are a homicidal maniac. If you do the same things on behest of your group/tribe, you are just a badass warrior Viking dude. Semantics matter! But you've hit the nail on the head.

"...bunch of rechargeable AA’s and AAA’s (standardize to those two sizes. Others are too expensive)..."

Very wise advice. And if you already have things that use C or D cells, you don't have to ditch them any buy ones that use AA cells - just get some C and D sized carriers like these, available through Jim's Amazon link:

I got the C and D adapters for my Eneloops and didn't care for them. I put the D's in my 3 cell Maglight and the performance was terrible. The mAh for an AA is dismal compared to that for a D.

I also have the book size solar charger and it too was disappointing. Takes only 3 batteries and takes direct sunlight for at least 8 hours to charge AA's. Seems like the size of the solar cells is where the problem lies. There are better solutions but not in that price range.

Maglight 6-cell used to be the pre-LED go-to krypton beam (for 40 minutes $10 alkaline D's) until 8-AA's crank out 900lumems for 90 minutes Fenix TK41 is a great bike light. Too bad they are so expensive now.

Are the cheap lights worth a new battery? The plastic should be ultraviolet degraded. Although I guess you could take out of the plastic sleeve each night and just expose the bulb. Still, at a buck each for the 1 lumen units, buy many. I'd save by rechargeable batts for other items.

I must moderate-trust me. You don't want to see what happens otherwise. Sometimes it takes awhile to respond as I only check two or three times a day. No N-Bombs, nothing to get me libeled. Otherwise, have at it. If you criticize me, make sure to praise my hair first.